China: Pastor and 200 church members detained for commemorating earthquake

People are sifting through the rubble to look for personal items after their homes were destroyed in an earthquake. (World Watch Monitor, 2008)
A church in Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan province, was raided by police on Saturday (12 May) as it prepared to commemorate the 10th anniversary of an earthquake that killed almost 90,000 people and left millions homeless. Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church was arrested alongside . . . Read More

Africa rises on World Watch List of worst persecutors

Africa rises on World Watch List of worst persecutors
Africa, where Christianity spread fastest during the past century, now is the region where oppression of Christians is spreading fastest, a new report says. The two-year-old Arab Spring has toppled autocrats across Northern Africa, but it also has energized militant Islamist movements that have killed hundreds of Christians and endanger . . . Read More

Book review: ‘Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack’

Book review: ‘Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack’
Jesus warned his followers that they would experience persecution, a prediction that was already coming true before the books of the New Testament were completed. Today, Rupert Shortt, author of Christianophobia: A Faith Under Attack, argues, “the greatest curbs on religious freedoms take place in Muslim majority countries.” Take Egypt, . . . Read More